IHH (Insani Yardim Vakfi) - Turkey

Profile

“Wherever he or she is, distressed, victimized by war, disaster, etc, wounded, disabled, homeless and subjected to famine, oppressed, it is the IHH’s main objective to deliver humanitarian aid to all people and take necessary steps to prevent any violations against their basic rights and liberties.”

Funding

In 2014 had reported income of 411.4 million Turkish lira (~$141.8 million) and reported expenses of 372.8 million Turkish lira.

According to the New York Times (June 1, 2010): “The organization is funded entirely on donations…money that comes from Turkey’s religious merchant class, an affluent section of Turkish society that has brought the party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to power.” Another Times report expanded on IHH’s “extensive connections with Turkey’s political elite,” and cited a Turkish paper’s editorial that referred to IHH as a “governmental-nongovernmental-organization” (GNGO).

Activities

IHH is a member of the Union of the Good, an umbrella of 50+ Islamic organizations, which was designated by the US government as “an organization created by Hamas leadership to transfer funds to the terrorist organization.”

Purchased three of the “Free Gaza” ships, and was one of the leaders of the flotilla. IHH members said that the boats carried supplies worth about $10 million. IHH also helped Hamas prepare the Gaza harbor to receive the ships.

On April 7, 2010 Bulent Yildirim stated that the “flotilla will serve as a test of sincerity for Israel. If it fires at our ships, it will be interpreted as declaration of war on our countries.”

According to a Danish research institute, the Turkish authorities investigated IHH in 1997 after receiving info that senior figures had purchased weapons from Islamic radicals. A police raid on an IHH building in Istanbul found weapons, explosives, and instructions for making improvised explosive devices (IEDs)

French counter-terrorism magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguiere claimed that IHH maintained contact with Al-Qaeda in Milan and Algerian terrorists in Europe; recruited militants for fighting in Bosnia, Chechnya, and Afghanistan; and played a “central role” in the Al Qaida bomb plot targeting LAX airport.

In 2008, Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak signed an order outlawing IHH.

Yildirim has alleged that “Zionism” controls the pharmaceutical, food, arms, and media industries.